I use verbal aids very sparingly. I use them a little more on green horses but it is mostly "smooch", "easy" and "Ah!". [ "Ah!" stops about every horse, dog and person around here right in their tracks.]

"Whoa!" is never said here. Here, it means one thing and one thing only and that is 'stop hard and slide'. You will find that most reining trainers save "Whoa!" for sliding stops and never use it any other time and do not even use it for every stop.

I never want anyone to use "walk", "trot" or "canter" while here because any horse that may go to the show-ring is likely to 'cue' off of the announcer. Any horses I use for lessons will go one gait faster from a "smooch" (as will my horses on a longe line or in the round pen) and will drop down a gear with an "easy".

That's about it. I want them tuned in to my body language and my hand, leg and seat aids much more than my voice. Voice is not used in the show-ring (other than "Whoa!" for reiners) and is a distraction as far as I am concerned. Obviously, it is not necessary as there are a bunch of World Champion reining horses that are stone deaf. Voice must not be a requirement for any training if a deaf reiner can be a World Champion.

I use both. Im very vocal with my horse, he has only one eye, so when im in his blind spot I talk or hum to him so he knows where I am. I yell "JOEYYYY" while standing at the gate and he always comes cantering over from where he is (very big field). I think its more how you say it then what you really say. Vocal cues are important on the ground.. ie stay for stand still and wait, back for backing up, up for picking up his feet for cleaning. I use noises like smooch, clicking and squealing. I talk to him like a child when lunging, he can't see me when we go in a certain direction so I have to constantly talk to him so he doesn't run into me and so he has a reference point to where I am.Posted via Mobile Device

I don't really use cues, but I talk a lot, especially if my horse is green/nervous. I also tend to hum and sing to them ! It seems to help their focus, especially when my farm's neighbors are doing something ridiculously dumb (drunkenly shooting off guns/fireworks, welding a tree for fun, and generally being jerks).

“Thoroughbreds are the best. They’re lighter, quicker and more
intelligent. The best of any breed is the Thoroughbred horse, the best
of that breed is better than any other breed." - George Morris

I never cluck or kiss to a horse to pick up speed. I did train a mare to respond to One-which meant walk, Two-Trot, 3 Canter. This way she didn't anticipate when the announcer called them. As for the clucking or kissing, a few riders crowded up behind us trying to get her to speed up so I began clucking. My mare didn't respond but those other two horses did. I do instill Whoa and Whoa means stop moving your feet. I never say it to slow a horse down. I also teach that Stand means nothing moves as there can be a time where it might be needed, such as an accident. It happened, my mare was down. I told her to Stand and she remained still when she could have panicked. We got her out and she was ok except for a minor skin cut. People about couldn't believe she didn't panic.

I have integrated quite a few verbal ques into my mares training. It started when we were doing ground work, and it made the transition to riding easier. She knows whoa "O", back, kiss for trot and cluck for canter, then transitioning down from the trot she also knows "walk".

"Horses don’t have hard mouths, they have hard, stiff bodies. The softer you can get the horse through his body, the softer he will be in your hands." Clinton Anderson

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.